Just make sure you can live with the noise level and have good side cooling fan on the side of your case.

Your CPU would be a better place to spend the money.

I like hearing your opinion that a GTX295 owner might decide to get a GTX480, Sowk.

And the noise level can't be a problem because I have two or more PCs running all the time and the sounds they make cancel each other out. In other words, a single computer is louder than two or three.

I'm getting an HAF-932 made by Cooler Master for the comfort that knowing everything will be fully cooled, will bring. The fans are awesome and it is much less expensive than Water cooling a single video card.

And getting an i7-920 or 930 will be simple. But after I test the GTX480 on my existing LGA775-E8400, first. I know everything works perfect on it. I'll have my old GTX295 for a backup card to test and diagnose with and or use if an RMA ever occurs.

Do you think that is why ppl jump on the Power, Heat, and Noise Bandwagons?

I forgot to bookmark it last night, but I read something like, it is a common occurrence (jumping on the Power, Heat, Noise Bandwagons) when it comes to close benchmarks.

A GTX480 uses less power on idle than my GTX295 does. I might not bother with getting another PSU right away. And a GTX480 uses less power on full load than my GTX295 does. Nobody has mentioned that until me just now. Isn't that a big plus for me in regards to getting a GTX480?

I think it has been excluded for obvious reasons in addition to the Power, Heat, and Noise Bandwagons.

Do you think that is why ppl jump on the Power, Heat, and Noise Bandwagons?

I forgot to bookmark it last night, but I read something like, it is a common occurrence (jumping on the Power, Heat, Noise Bandwagons) when it comes to close benchmarks.

A GTX480 uses less power on idle than my GTX295 does. I might not bother with getting another PSU right away. And a GTX480 uses less power on full load than my GTX295 does. Nobody has mentioned that until me just now. Isn't that a big plus for me in regards to getting a GTX480?

I think it has been excluded for obvious reasons in addition to the Power, Heat, and Noise Bandwagons.

When viewed on it's own,it isn't bad at all,and it is the fastest single GPU on the market afterall,but review sites are comparing the performance relative to the competition,and that's where the power use,heat and noise and price issues are coming from basically.

You're getting another 10% better performance when averaged out overall,but using more than 10% extra power,or 10% extra transistors,or only costing 10% more or being just 10% louder than the competition,and i'm completely ignoring the 6 month gap between product releases here.

Hence why the overall launch has been lukewarm overall,and while it is a faster product on a GPU versus GPU basis,it also comes with those drawbacks,and no amount of marketing can change that unfortunately.

In terms of overall efficiency relative to the transistor budget used,price,power usage and performance delivered,the HD5870 has it beat hands down...It's simply a better product in those aspects.

I am glad to see this thread did not get ugly there is very good info from everyone in this thread. I am not a fanboy of either side I am just looking for the biggest bang for the buck. Having dx 11 parts out from both companies is good for all of us as prices will come down. I was hoping to return to the green team but I think my original comment stands I will wait for the refresh and pick the best card out then. Of course at anytime I might just find myself on Newegg and buy one in a weak moment.

In terms of overall efficiency relative to the transistor budget used,price,power usage and performance delivered,the HD5870 has it beat hands down...It's simply a better product in those aspects.

I forgot abut the efficiency, Shadow.

But what if only the FPS numbers were in consideration?

And just what exactly are the numbers?

Meaning, if you didn't care that a newly released card costs $80 more, and didn't care about the power, or the noise. So if none of those were an issue. And only the FPS mattered.

And depending on your personal preferences, the Games you like to play, the settings you like, show me the FPS numbers.

Because with the charts I have seen, you don't want to trade for the performance of a GTX480 for the performance of an HD5870. No way. No time.

Meaning, if I had two curtains, and all you knew was that you had to choose one computer out of the two. And behind curtain #1, was a PC that ran a game at 36 FPS. And behind curtain #2, was a PC that ran the same game at 25 FPS. You would seriously pick the one that ran at 25 FPS?

Remember, you don't care about $80 anymore because you get it free. And the Heat is just fine, because the one with a GTX480 has a very cool case. (no pun just temperature wise.) And the noise may still be debatable but I have several PCs that cancel each others sound out, so imagine you do too.

Seriously? When did a single highend GPU outperform a multi-GPU system from the same generation of cards before?
It's like saying the GTX 480 should be faster than GTX 470 SLI... Or GTX 280 faster than GTX 260 SLI.

That's just not realistic mate

Multi-GPU card is ATI strategy to compete against the top end NVIDIA cards in the last 3 generations. I'm sure ATI could have also develop a huge chip with more transistor. Looks like the multi GPU design was better and more economical choice.

For that reason I bought the HD 4870 X2 and HD 5970, would have also purchased the GTX 295 if it was not late on the market and originally still with the sandwich design.

The bottom line is ATI still has the fastest Graphic Card, it's not here to compete against multi Graphic Cards system same like GTX 295 wasn't. The only purpose for the GTX 295 was to have the fastest Graphic Card on the market.

As I said before, true NVIDIA has the fastest GPU but people don't buy GPU, they buy Graphic cards.

Now if the GTX 480 was faster than the HT 5970 (as some NVIDIA shills predicted) I would not think for a minute to order one but buing two GTX 480 for at least 1000 USD for me is not a smart option.

This is my reason to stick with the HD 5970. I'm sure some people have many other reasons why they bought tha ATI cards this round, for example 6 months sooner on the market, less expensive, better power consumption, less heat, more quiet etc.